Turn Left, Turn Right
Turn Left, Turn Right (向左走·向右走, Heung joh chow, heung yau chow in China) is a 2003 Hong Kong-Singaporean film set in Taipei, Taiwan. It centers around two people who are seemingly perfect for each other - shy violinist John Liu and ditzy professional translator Eve Choi, who meet once as children and, by chance, meet again as adults. They always pass by each other, but never seem to meet - and now that they are reminded of each other's existence, fate transpires to keep them apart.
Directed by Johnnie To and Wai Kai-Fai, Turn Left, Turn Right stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Gigi Leung as the leads. It is based on an illustrated book by Jimmy Liao, A Chance of Sunshine.
Tropes used in Turn Left, Turn Right include:
- Attractiveness Isolation: Both leads.
- Baby Carriage: Makes for a nice Call Back. John and Eve encounter a baby out for a stroll on their first meeting, and they proceed to act all married-couple on the baby. The second time we see the baby is when John is trying to look for Eve. It's also quite the bit of Fridge Brilliance.
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John (to the baby): I'm very sad. (the baby frowns) |
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- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Ruby and Dr. Hu.
- Beta Couple: Subverted.
- Birds of a Feather: John and Eve are very, very alike.
- Bob Haircut: Eve.
- Boy Meets Girl: Boy loses girl, boy tries to find girl...
- Childhood Friend Romance: Both varieties.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Dr. Hu was an acquaintance of Eve in school, who was enamored with her but she never returned his advances.
- Victorious Childhood Friend: John met Eve once when they were both on a school trip, and each of them only remembered the other's student number.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Eve.
- Clueless Chick Magnet: John has three women interested in him over the course of the movie.
- Contrived Coincidence: Thrives on this.
- Deus Ex Machina: The earthquake, which eventually breaks down the wall that had been separating John's and Eve's flats.
- Dr. Jerk: Dr. Hu, apparently.
- Dramatic Irony: And holy shit how! The film constantly shows the viewer opportunities for John and Eve to meet again, even having them undergo the exact same things, and yet circumstances never work out in their favor until the end.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Hu, after Eve kicks him out of her flat.
- Elegant Classical Musician: John.
- Fate Drives Us Together: A subversion. John and Eve are always in the same places at the same time - a sign that they're "destined to be together" - but neither of them notice one another. By the time they do, fate seems to have changed its mind. It's implied this was going on with Ruby and Dr. Hu as well, as shown in the scene where they talk to John/Even in the hospital.
- The Film of the Book
- First Girl Wins
- Forgotten First Meeting: Subverted - they both remember it, but neither remember the other.
- Held Gaze
- Hopeless Suitor: Ruby and Dr. Hu.
- Love At First Sight: An important element in every romcom! Also, the Polish poem titled "Love at First Sight," which features heavily in the movie, pretty much describes the premise.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Eve for John.
- Official Couple: John and Eve.
- Pair the Spares: Deconstructed. Ruby and Hu come to terms with the fact that they're only together because the persons they loved chose each other, despite the fact that they still love John and Eve respectively.
- Rain, Rain, Go Away: The rain leads to John and Eve's phone numbers being erased from the slips of paper.
- Race For Your Love: After the simultaneous phone calls to each other revealing that both John and Eve are about to leave the country, they attempt this. It fails.
- Relationship Sabotage: Ruby and Hu attempt this. It fails.
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Dr. Hu (who is wealthy) thinks this is the case. He's actually kind of right.
- Romantic Comedy
- Romantic False Lead: Both the food delivery girl Ruby (played by Terri Kwan) and the doctor Hu (played by Edmund Chen).
- Separated by the Wall: To the extreme, to the point that they actually live separated by a wall. Although they are in different buildings, John and Eve have many, many, many shots like this. Even in the hospital.
- Stalker with a Crush: Hu has some mild shades of this. He hires a photographer to take stolen shots of Eve around Taipei - Ruby notices that John happens to be in every shot.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: John and Eve. So. Damn. Much.
- Tsundere: Ruby.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: The ending is a shot of both John and Eve's umbrellas leaning against each other.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Why did it have to be ghosts?